


empty the skies out

by AStrangeDaze (TerraRising)



Category: Wanna One (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Gen, I promise things will make sense later, Or at least more sense
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-13
Updated: 2018-08-14
Packaged: 2019-06-26 17:57:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,849
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15668316
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TerraRising/pseuds/AStrangeDaze





	1. forgotten tales

 

“Mama,” Minhyun wiggles his toes against the soft, worn material of his favourite comforter, trying his best to suppress a yawn and fight against the sleep tugging teasingly on the edges of his eyelids, “Tell me another story, please?”

 

His mother chuckles, a warm sound that always made Minhyun think of blankets, campfires, and hot cocoa, “Another one, my little prince? You already got two tonight.”

 

“Just one more, please?” he begs, squirming a bit until his back burrowed a little hollow against the pillows, not wanting the treat that was his mother tucking him into bed to end, “A new story, Mama, not the old ones.”

 

“Hmm,” his mother strokes her hand over his hair thoughtfully as she weighs her options, “And you will be good for the tutors tomorrow? No running off to play before your lessons are done?”

 

“I’ll be good, Mama, promise,” he intones as solemnly as a six year-old knows how to, words just a lisping, and she smiles at the look in those earnest eyes.

 

“Very well then, just one more story, and then straight to sleep like all good little boys ought to.”

 

“A new story?” he wheedles, abandoning his pillows to burrow against her side, sighing happily as she tucked him under her arm and smoothed his hair back soothingly.

 

“Mmmm, I suppose, a story that _my_ grandmother told me when I was your age, a story about the moon,” she starts off slowly, “Long, long ago, there used to be a Sun and two moons that lived in the skies.”

 

“Two moons?” he gapes before clamping his mouth shut, scared his mother would scold him for interrupting before she even began and stop telling him the story.

 

“Yes, two moons, An and Yu, and they were very much in love. In the mornings the Sun would come out and bless the earth with warmth and life, and at night the moons would emerge, hand in hand, and whisper stories and knowledge into our ears as we slept. That was how every living creature learned and grew, and for centuries, all was well.

 

“But the years passed and the Sun grew terribly lonesome. The Sun did not have a partner, and the clouds that kept him company never seemed to stay when the wind came calling. The lonelier the Sun felt, the sadder he became, and eventually he grew to be jealous of the two moons. He wanted someone to love him and stay with him in the same way that the moons adored each other and were never apart, and one day, he decided that he would steal one of the moons away.”

 

Minhyun gasps, eyes wide, kicking his heels against the mattress in his worry, hanging on to his mother’s every word.

 

“The Sun knew though that the moons would never willingly part, and so he hatched a plot to lock one of the moons away in another realm so that the remaining moon would come to him in their loneliness. Secretly, the Sun lured Yu away and the trusting moon who had never had any reason to suspect their dear friend went, only to be locked away in a realm that was dark and cold. The scheming Sun sealed the entrance quickly, soldering the portal shut with his powerful rays, and hid any trace of Yu having been there.

 

“When An could not find their other half they fell into despair, and nothing the Sun could do or offer could console them. What the Sun did not know was that An and Yu had long since pledged their souls to be as one, and without Yu, An’s brilliance waxed and waned throughout the months. And so An wandered the skies searching for Yu, and the Sun remained alone as ever in the heavens above.”

 

Eyes drooping, Minhyun yawned, letting his mother guide him into a prone position and tucking the blankets more firmly around his shoulders. “And now to sleep, my little prince.”

 

“What happened to Yu, Mama? What happened to the other moon?”

 

“Yu wandered that cold, dark realm,” she continued in a soft voice, “looking for an exit, for a way back to An, though they would find none.”

 

“That’s sad, Mama. Does Yu ever come home?”

 

“No, my little prince. But the realm that appeared lifeless and empty at first was not what it first seemed and Yu found instead small creatures living there. And to honour the traditions they used to have with An, Yu whispered knowledge to them in their dreams until they, too, grew as the beings in Yu’s old realm had. These children raised by Yu grew stronger, they learned of Yu’s plight by the hands of the Sun who had tricked Yu so cruelly and pledged to help them return to An one day.”

 

“Who were they?”

 

A gentle hand cards through his hair, lulling Minhyun into sleep, coaxing him to let go of his stubborn hold of the waking world.

 

“They are called the Er’no,” Minhyun barely hears the whispered answer, “Now sleep, my sweet child, sleep.”

 

 

* * *

 

 

“….and in the Twenty-Sixth year of Haar’va, the Shifter tribe and our kingdom agreed to a temporary ceasefire that eventually led to the signing of the non-aggression treaty between our lands-”

 

“Teacher Lee…” Minhyun hedged carefully, ducking his head slightly at the raised eyebrow his tutor graced him with at the interruption.

 

“Yes, my prince?”

 

“I was looking for something, but none of the books say anywhere…who are the Er’no?”

 

His tutor stares, face paler than Minhyun has ever seen, for a moment he thought Teacher Lee’s glasses would slip right off his nose. “Where did you hear that name?” Teacher Lee asks, tone low and urgent.

 

Minhyun shrinks a little into himself, startled by his tutor reacting so strongly to a simple question. “A story,” he whispers.

 

“Who told you that story?” Teacher Lee insists, grasping Minhyun’s shoulders and shaking the startled child, forgoing any and all formalities in his frenzied state.

 

“M-mother did,” Minhyun stutters, wide-eyed, “She, she told me about the moons.”

 

“Her Majesty….of course, her family still keeps to the old ways. Listen to me,” Teacher Lee hisses, eyes still a little crazed, “You must never mention the Er’no to anyone, nor go searching for them; they are harbringers of destruction. If you ever see one, my prince, you must not approach them, do you understand?”

 

“Why?” Minhyun can’t help but ask, “Why are they bad?”

 

“The Er’no are beings of hate and vengeance, they want for nothing but to blot out the sun and slaughter all those under his protection. So you must never go searching for them.”

 

“But Mama said-”

 

“Those are fanciful stories for children,” Teacher Lee cuts him off harshly, “The truth of the matter is that the Er’no are vicious and dangerous. Do you understand?”

 

“But-”

 

“I asked, **do you understand**?”

 

Minhyun stared; Teacher Lee was never one to raise his voice, Minhyun had never seen his tutor’s face looking quite so stern.

 

“Yes,” he answered, turning away and focusing on his books again to avoid his tutor's gaze, “I understand.”

 

 

* * *

 

 

Candle light flickered as his governess set about extinguishing the torches that lit his room, leaving only the lone flame she carried with her to illuminate the way.

 

Looking at the full moon hanging high in the sky all on its lonesome, Minhyun turns to his governess, taking a deep breath.

 

 

“ _Mumu_ , can you tell me a story about the Er’no?”


	2. into the woods

He doesn’t remember where he’s going, doesn’t remember what he’s doing, he only knows he has to run.

 

 

_Run, run, run, don’t stop, never stop, if you stop it’ll be Bad. Bad, bad, bad, bad. So don’t stop running, keep running._

 

 

He’s tripping and the rocks that his palms and knees skid on cut open his skin. He can’t see if there’s blood, if the wounds are deep, but he feels the sting as he stumbles to his feet and keep running.

 

 

_Running, running; why is he running?_

 

_Because they’re chasing him, chasing him, though he doesn’t know who_ **_they_ ** _are. Only something tells him, someone’s voice echoes urgently in his brain, don’t let them catch you, you can’t let them catch you._

 

 

His feet pound against the ground desperately, cobblestone gives way to gravel, and then to thick undergrowth that tangles him up hopelessly. It’s useless to try to run in the undergrowth, he knows because- because someone told him that once so he scrambles up a tree, palms stinging as he grapples with the bark.

 

Trees here aren’t too tall, can’t grow that tall, but it gives him enough height and hope to escape. He leaps from branch to branch, tree to tree, driven by some odd muscle memory and instinct that tells him his body remembers the way even though he doesn’t recall doing this before.

 

Behind him he can hear the snarls of the hounds trained to follow scent, can hear the thunderous thudding of heavy boots, but they too are slowed by the undergrowth. He is nimble, agile, has speed on his side now, he leaves them behind steadily with every heart-dropping jump.

 

His breathing is laboured and his heart thuds, thumping hard against the fragile cage of his ribs; for a second he realizes he has to think about breathing, in and out, in and out, as he tries desperately to bring in the oxygen his lungs need without gasping and giving his position away. His brain is still firmly in flight mode because fighting isn’t an option, the feeling of being like prey fizzles through his veins.

 

 

_Run, run, run, with only the moon as witness and guide, only the moon to see the blood streaming down his face and into his eyes, the wounds he reopens on his hands and knees with every desperate movement._

 

_Only the moon to mourn for the state of this child of their’s that flees in the dead of the night from enemies unknown, much too young to have to know fear in this way._

 

 

He fumbles a landing and bites back a scream as he falls, hands finding no purchase to stop his descent, cushioned only by sparse bushes.

 

 

_But there! There!_

 

_A glimmer, was that light?_

 

 

Already his pupils shrink in protest but he crawls towards it in determination, drawn by the warmth as much as he is repelled by it. His hands find it first, slipping through nothingness into golden light and he tumbles forwards, rolling into fragrant grass, a vibrant green and the longest he’s ever seen.

 

The thudding of his heart slows under the sunlight, his gasping breaths subside. Though he strains his ears he cannot hear hounds or the condemning march of his pursuers, only a gurgling brook and the song of nesting robins. All at once the fervour that sustained him so burns out, leaving not even embers behind, and he sinks into the grass. His arms and legs feel heavy, his torso anchored into the ground. He breathes in, breathes out, gives in and sleeps.

 

 

_No more running._

 


End file.
